And here she is!

It's hard to believe that Clifford the Big Red Van is finally out of my life.  With all his hatred (of me) and poor treatment, I was beyond ready to say goodbye.  Some days I never thought we'd really let him go.  Despite all the problems, he was good to us.  He lasted for several years...longer than he should have probably.  Several years ago, he was totaled when we were rear-ended.  We gave the van up to Kris' dad, who pulled the bumper out and made it drivable again.  A few months later, we reacquired Clifford and drove him several more years.  Longer than I wanted.  So, I have a hard time believing that Clifford really is out of our lives.  I keep expecting to turn around and see him following me.  I feel that I should add that while MOST vehicles are named after girls (and I am not into naming cars), Kris insisted that HIS van was going to have a masculine name.  In case you were wondering...

Before we turned Clifford over to the dealership, I made Katherine and Kaleb say goodbye, one final time:

And just WHAT did we say hello to?  Only my favorite van ever!  I should preface this by saying that about 3 years ago, my mother-in-law bought a new van.  We had always loved the Hyundai Sonata, but it just isn't practical for a family of 6.  When Hyundai designed a mini-van, my mother-in-law bought it.  We have always loved it.  So for several years we have lived vicariously through her and her blue Hyundai Entourage, even borrowing it (she's super generous!) to take the trips home to see my family, which we could not have done in our van.  After looking at several different vans, we wound up buying the first van we looked at, which happened to be a blue 2007 Hyundai Entourage.  Yes, that's right.  We bought the exact same van.  Same color, though I hold that it is just a shade darker.  And ours doesn't have a dent in the right rear corner!  This is the NEWEST vehicle we have ever had...and...IT HAS WORKING A/C!  We all love it.  It has just under 60,000 miles on it too and APPEARS to be in good condition.  When we get in it, Abbey always says "I love this van!"  She insisted that we name it.  Kat wanted to know a name for a blue flower.  I told them that I thought hydrangeas were blue.  Though only the younger girls agreed with the name, our new van will henceforth and forevermore be known as Hydrangea.  It's funny to hear Livvy and Abbey try to pronounce the word!  Anyway...here she is: